September 14, 2004

Idaho criminal defense lawyer David Nevin was guest speaker at ISU in Pocatello last night. He represented Sami Al-Hussayen, a Saudi Arabian grad student accused by the government of links to terrorism. Al-Hussayen was acquitted by a federal jury in Boise last June 10th.

Nevin said the case illustrated the best and worst of the American judicial system:

"'In one sense, the system worked because a jury saw through the hype and acquitted him in one of the nation's most conservative states,' Nevin said. 'But it resonated another way too, in that a guy who didn't do anything wrong spent 511 days in jail.'"

"Unfortunately, the case isn't an isolated incident, Nevin said. 'They picked the wrong guy, but how many 'right' guys have they done this to? This is going on all over the country.'"